Umbrella-supporting means



PLH. McCOUR T UMBRELLA SUPPORTING'MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-26. 1920.

1,368,516 Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

fa m'a/ifffifi aari PATRICK '55.. MCCO'URIT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

UMBRELLA-SUPPORTING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

Application filed. August 26, 1926. Serial No. 406,251.

'1 0 all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, PATRICK I-l. McCoURr, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Umbrella-Supporting Means, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for supporting an umbrella over a person without the assistance of the hands, and, has for its object, to provide means adapted to be strapped to the back of a person for supporting the umbrella in operative position.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for engagement with the shoulders of a person to assist in supporting the proper position.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of cords extending from the front of the belt to a pair of the umbrella stays, or ribs, to further steady the umbrella in the wind.

A still further object of the invention is to provide the umbrella with pointed brace stays so that the umbrella can be easily and readily folded into closed position by folding each pair of brace stays upon each other, thereby obviating the necessity of a sliding ferrule upon the handle.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and finally pointed out in the claim hereto ap pended.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like characters of reference denote similar parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1, is a perspective View of the umbrella and my umbrella supporting means strapped to a person.

Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the umbrella supporting means.

Fig. 3, is a detail showing the brace stays in open position. I

Fig. 1, is a detail, in side elevation, of one of the brace stays.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character 1 indicates a suitable supporting member having its lower end provided with a cross-piece 2 to form a T-shaped lowerend. The cross-piece 2 is pivotally connected by means of suitable fastening means 3 so that the cross-piece may be moved to lie parallel with the supporting member 1 when the umbrella supporting means is not in use. A suitable strap 4 is suitably fixed to the cross-piece 2 and is provided with a suitable buckle 5 for buckling the strap about the waist of a person, as shown in Fig. 1.

6 indicates apair of suitable metallic shoulder straps which are each pivotally connected at their lower ends to the supporting strap 1 by means of the fastening means 7. This arrangement permits the shoulder straps 6 to be moved inwardly toward the supporting member 1 when not in use as is manifest, by simply loosening the fastening means 7. The shoulder straps are curved. at their upper ends, as at 8, so as to lie over the shoulders of a person, as shown in Fig. 1, to assist in holding the supporting member 1 in position upon the back of a person.

The upper end of the supporting member 1 is suitably curved forwardly, as at 9, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to cause the upper extremity thereof to terminate a suitable distance above the head of the person to which the supporting member is strapped.

10 indicates a suitable relatively short umbrella handle which is suitably fixed at its lower end to the upper end of the supporting member 1. 11 indicates the ribs to which the covering 12 is suitably attached. The ribs 11 are pivoted at their upper ends, as at 13, to the ferrule 14 which is fixed to the upper end of the handle 10.

15 indicates brace stays which are pivotally connected as at 16, to a collar 17 which collar is suitably fixed to the lower end of the handle 10. 18 indicates Y -shaped brace stays which are pivotally connected at their inner ends, as at 19, to the outer end of the brace stays 15, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and a. The outer ends of the Y- shaped brace stays are pivotally connected to the rib members 11, as is manifest. A suitable leaf spring 20 is fixed to the outer end of each brace stay 15 and the free end thereof engages the upper face of the inner end of each Y-shaped brace stay to limit downward movement of the center of the brace stays, as is manifest.

When the umbrella is in its open position, as shown in Fig. 1, the same may be anchored to the belt a by means of a pair of suitable cord members 21, which extend from opposite sides of the umbrella near the edge thereof to the front of the belt, as illustrated in Fig. 1. These cords 21 assist in holding the umbrella in position over the person and especially when the wind is blowing, as is manifest.

When it is desired to lower, or fold the umbrella, all that is necessary to do is to force the center of each pair of brace stays l5 and 17 upwardly to cause them to fold upon each other, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, which causes the ribs 11 and the cover toclose, as is manifest.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that I provide an umbrella and umbrella supporting means which are practical for many instances.

The many advantages of the herein described invention Wlll readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

I do not wish tobe understood as having limited myself to the details of construction shown and described, but desire to have it understood that the invention 1 have shown in the drawings is merely illustrative, as it is manifest that various minor changes may be made in the exact construction and par ticular arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention,

hence I reserve the right to make any such changes or modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim when fairly construed.

What I claim is:

In combination, a supporting member having a curved upper end, a cross-piece movably fixed to the lower end of the supporting member, a strap having a buckle fixed to the cross-piece for strapping the supporting member upon the back of a person in an upright position so the curved upper end thereof 'will extend over and above the head of the person, a pair of metal straps having curved upper ends for engagement with the shoulders of a person, means for movably fixing said metal straps at their lower ends to the supporting member, and a fold-able umbrella having a relatively short handle fixed at its lower end to the upper end of the curved portion of said supporting member to shade the person to which the supporting member and umbrella is strapped.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to the specification.

PATRICK H. MCCOURT. 

